Peacekeepers Put On Alert

Allied Troops Set To Move Into Bosnia

WASHINGTON — Newly encouraged by the prospect of a Bosnian Serb military pullback around Sarajevo, the U.S. and its European allies are preparing to switch roles from bombing to peacekeeping.

NATO is completing plans for a "peace implementation force" that would be sent quickly to Bosnia if current diplomatic efforts lead to a comprehensive accord ending the 40-month war.

Defense Secretary William Perry said Thursday that NATO anticipates sending a "sizable" force of about 35,000 troops-including 10,000 to 15,000 Americans-to monitor cease-fires, new borders, treatment of civilians and weapons-free zones.

"The purpose of the force is to deal with the `what if'-what if the peace agreement does not stick, and there is an upsurge in fighting," Perry said. "We want the force to be large enough and powerful enough, first of all, to deter that kind of action, and secondly, if that happens, to win it quickly, decisively and with minimum casualties."

This would mark a major shift for the U.S. which so far has limited its military activities to the air over Bosnia.

The NATO force is smaller than the one that would have been necessary to pull out UN peacekeepers, but it would put U.S. soldiers on the ground for a longer time in an effort to ensure a peace accord holds.

President Clinton previously pledged that U.S. troops would be available to help ensure compliance with a negotiated settlement in Bosnia.

But the mission will require approval from the Republican-led Congress, which will have to find the money to pay the bill for a large-scale peacekeeping mission likely to last a year or more.

"It will require full consultation (with Congress) because the size of force I am talking about over the period of time that would be involved, which would be many months, is a costly item, and so it is going to require some appropriations," Perry said.

Perry made a distinction between the lightly-armed UN peacekeepers, whose ineffectiveness in Bosnia has been widely criticized, and a heavily-armed NATO force.

"These are combat forces that are going in there," Perry told reporters here.

"They are prepared to fight if necessary. We do not expect them to have to fight. That is, we expect a peace agreement will have truly established the terms in which the country can move forward in peace and stability."

One of the issues NATO is considering is opening participation in the peacekeeping force to non-alliance countries, including Arab and Muslim nations and Russia.

But the two weeks of NATO bombing, which appears to have finally pressured the rebel Serbs to agree to withdraw their heavy weapons from the hills overlooking Sarajevo, has drawn criticism from Moscow, raising doubts about whether Russia would now be willing to put its troops under NATO command.

Nonetheless, Perry said that Russia, like other nations, should be invited to participate.

"There is a substantial question about whether Russians will want to contribute troops as part of a NATO operation, but I would believe it would be important to invite them in the hope that they would be willing to do that."